Sept 16 - 18

Hi Everyone!
It's been a few days since my last post so  let me catch you up.
Last Thursday, after looking at the weather for Friday (9/16, Buddy's Birthday!) we felt confident we would  be able to  leave Mackinaw City. So we got up early and  prepared to take off. We had been in Mac City since Monday when the Patberg's left us. The wind got pretty ugly Monday afternoon and stayed that way through Thursday. We finally got a break late Thursday night. Ugly winds are 20 knots, gusting to 30! Not  a good time  to be on the water!
So we took off, passed under the Mackinac Bridge and the engine light came on. The engine had overheated. So we put up  the sails, turned around and headed back to  Mac City. The wind died...  I mean there was no  wind at all. So we called for a tow. We  have BoatUS thankfully and  it was paid  for but what an irritation. It took the tow boat an hour and a half to get to us (came from Cheboygan!) and cost us $700!!
He pulled us  into the Mackinaw City Municipal Marina. Shepler's (a boat yard, repair  shop, etc.) is right  next door and were able  to  come and work  on the engine.  A couple  hours later, we were on our way again.
We were just short of the bridge when the engine light came on again. This time we were able  to sail back  into the marina.  Shepler's came back,  I went to the office to  pay for a night there and after a couple  of  hours,  Skip  felt sure the boat was okay. We  wouldn't know  for sure until we were in the lake. Oh Joy!!
So  Saturday morning we got up  early again and headed out. This time the engine worked just fine and we made it to Charlevoix and stayed there Saturday night. We left there Sunday morning in time to  catch the 8am draw bridge and headed to our next destination.
As always, Skip checked the  weather before we left and thought we would  have a decent sail as  we headed to Frankfort (our next stop). And we did have a good sail hitting 6-7 knots of boat speed. Once we  got into the opening of  Little Traverse Bay the wind picked up to 20 knots and stayed there the rest  of the day. We  were leaning pretty good! Things kept falling off the shelves  in the cabin - clothes, cutting boards, our fan! The  cabin looked like a teenagers bedroom!!! Stuff everywhere!!
We decided to pull into Leland instead of going all the way to  Frankfort. We  were both exhausted from fighting the wheel. 
So  here we are. In Leland and it's raining and the wind is supposed to  be  between 15-20 out of the South! We may or may not leave today!
Hope everyone is well. Kelly, I hope you  had fun visiting Wash. Chris said he drove your car while you were gone!!
Happy birthday to  Buddy  on 9/16 and to Katie on 9/19! You guys are growing up way to fast. Miss you a bunch.
Love  and blessings,
Margo  and Skip